About HinduismTo me, Hinduism seems to be the most open-minded and flexible religion of all of the ones we studied. The ultimate goal in Hinduism is to seek the truth and achieve moksha, or liberation from the cycle of rebirth and the end of suffering. Hinduism has no founder, doctrine, creed, or organizational hierarchy. The presenter from the Hindu American Foundation explained that there is no formal conversion in Hinduism, so he joked that if you want to call yourself a Hindu, you can call yourself a Hindu. Like other religions we learned about this past week, Hinduism is a very personal religion that means something different to each Hindu person, which demonstrates how internally diverse Hinduism is. A Hindu's sacred beliefs seem to be the most prominent part of the Hindu identity compared to behavior and belonging. In addition, Hinduism today is very different than Hinduism thousands of years ago, reminding us that religions are always evolving and changing. The majority of U.S. Hindus don't go to temple because it is such a personal religion. When I conducted a home visit a few years ago at one of my Hindu student's homes, his family commented on how they had an entire room of their condo that they used as their home shrine. I was surprised at the time to hear this because I think the condo was only 3 bedrooms, and there were 5 family members living in the home, which meant that all 3 children likely shared a bedroom. At the time, I didn't know anything about Hinduism, so I didn't feel comfortable asking more about their shrine. When I asked about this in class last week, the presenter said that home shrines all have different purposes and meanings to different people; he didn't give any type of solid answer (since there wasn't one) --- another reminder that Hinduism is VERY internally diverse. The Hindu prayer ritual infinitely varies from person to person, family to family, and region to region. It also depends on which type of God you're worshipping. Student & Parent PanelAs always, the panel was one of the best parts of learning about this religion. Every single student and the one mother were SO chill, accepting, and flexible. Two of the three students on the panel were actually Scott School graduates and had siblings/relatives that were currently or had previously attended Scott. The main points discussed on the panel were:
Hindu Temple VisitsThe two temples we visited were Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple in Aurora and BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Bartlett. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the temples, but if you click on the link for each temple, you can see some interior pictures on their website. At the temple in Aurora, the most interesting thing we observed was a Hindu baby-naming ceremony on the baby's 28th day after birth. Other than all of the Naperville teachers that the parents welcomed to observe, the ceremony was a small, intimate gathering of the priest, baby, parents, and what appeared to possibly be the two grandmothers. Since the ritual was conducted in a language other than English, we weren't entirely sure what was happening. However, there were many different materials that they used as a part of the ceremony, including a gold plate, a gold vase, greenery, dried basmati rice, flowers, ground spices, water, and various fruits. Since I wanted to know more about Hindu baby-naming ceremonies, I searched online and came across this story and article about the ritual. The article specifically addresses the internal diversity within Hinduism when it comes to baby-naming ceremonies. I was thrilled when we pulled up to the second temple (BAPS Swaminarayan, pictured above) because it was one that I had driven by dozens of times, and I had always wondered what it looked like and what people do inside. I was blown away on all accounts. I had never seen such intricate, hand-carved wooden and marble carving like I witnessed inside. Hand carving wood is one thing (still impressive beyond belief), but the hand-carved marble and limestone were on a whole other level. In one of the interior spaces, everywhere you looked was marble and had ornate detail. All of the carving was done by craftsmen in India, and the 7,000+ tons of marble and limestone were then shipped to and assembled here in Bartlett. Inside the temple, we participated in several Hindu rituals, including arti, which is a form of prayer, and abhishek, which is a ceremony where you pour holy water over a murti (Hindu idol/symbol of God), make a wish, and chant holy mantras. It was so neat to experience the Hindu religion and culture firsthand, and many of us commented on how we found it hard to believe that we were still in the Chicagoland area! I highly recommend everyone visit the BAPS Swaminararyan Temple in Bartlett to experience its indescribable beauty and rich culture yourself.
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